What County's accent to you love in the UK and which do you hate?

for it its:

Love Cornish/Devon accent

Hate Cockney/ "Savvena" accent

I hate the birmingham accent cos its so drawn out and sounds a bit thick.
Id like to have a french accent cos it sounds sophisticated, but having said that i wouldnt want to be french.
I dont really love any accents, except for my native yorkshire

I Love all accents of the world like we all should :wink: The Clangers were a little hard to understand and maybe pingu

if we are talking world i love aussie accent as well

I DESPISE the following accents:

-Liverpool/Scouser
-Birmingham/Brummie
-Newcastle/Geordie
-Scottish

I DISLIKE the following accents:

-Lancashire
-Yorkshire
-Welsh
-Cockney
-West Country
-East Anglian

Basically, I don't like any accents if they're noticeably strong. I much prefer people who pronounce their vowels correctly and don't use strong dialects with regional words, and don't totally misuse certain words, e.g. 'while' as opposed to 'until'.

Whos to say what is 'correct?'
Yes, standard english is regarded by some as the correct way to speak and write, but each county has their own dialect, with its own little rules and regulations. They arent necessarily wrong, they just arent the same as 'standard english' which was brought it basically to avoid confusion between different dialects, ie, a way to write things that will be read throughout the country that everyone will understand. The country would be a very boring place if everyone spoke the same.

Doesn't mean I have to like them though.

I'm pretty ambivalent about regional accents but what I can't abide are the professional accents. Those like Cilla Black who, despite not having lived in L'pool for many decades, still maintain a scouse accent. Do you think she takes un-elocution lessons to keep it up?

Originally posted by "kittykat"

Whos to say what is 'correct?'
Yes, standard english is regarded by some as the correct way to speak and write, but each county has their own dialect, with its own little rules and regulations
No there isn't a "standard english" there are some people arrogant enough to believe that their version of English is the correct one and everyone else is wrong.
There is RP and "the queen's english" but even the respected references like Fowler's allow for variation. I'm sure there are those who think Brian Sewell's usage is "standard", I think its a very funny caricature.

Everyone uses at least 2 versions of english, your written english differs from your spoken english. The English you use in a job application differs from that you use in an email. In spoken english use of aposiopesis is quite common in written English... (sorry, feeble elitist joke).

The english used by a doctor or computer programmer speaking with his peers can be incomprehensible to the outsider, that's good, it speeds the dialogue and develops mutual understanding. When they use the same terminology in conversation with someone outside their profession it becomes a way of emphasising their authority - "you can't argue with me because you don't even understand the terminology".

Embrace end enjoy the variety of regional speech variations, let it enrich your life - in the same way as I go to the Fat Cat because the beer is different every time, the standard national/multinational beers get boring (I'm getting a bit off topic but the success of Guinness is the variation it is subject to, drinkers still speak of a good or bad pint of guinness).

The underlying function of language is communication. If you wish to communicate successfully you must be sensitive to the linguistic capabilities of your audience.

To get back to the question - as a generalisation rural accents are relaxed unhurried and florid: urban accents are more likely to be rapid-fire and the dialect elements effectively abbreviations intended to speed the dialogue. (Dialect is the use of different, possibly regional, words to convey the same concept, accent is pronouncing the same word different ways.) If you are a townie in a hurry, you may get frustrated with with rural speech. If you are a yokel, you might not be able to keep up with a rapid fire townie (is "townie/yokel" politically correct? Do I give a damn? No I'm using a short cut for effective communication, I'd get away with it in speech, maybe not in writing.)

What accents do I like/dislike? I find (broad) Birmingham and Newcastle intrinsically funny but those of the strange folk who live on the wrong side of the Pennines are well dodgy. I think Scouse and Cockney accents have criminal associations - probably just because of familiar TV soap/comedy characters.

Originally posted by "t020"

Basically, I don't like any accents if they're noticeably strong. I much prefer people who pronounce their vowels correctly and don't use strong dialects with regional words, and don't totally misuse certain words, e.g. 'while' as opposed to 'until'. I struggle with that little local speciality too: "Don't put you hand in the water while it's boiling hot" - what is the correct action to be taken here? Do the Sheffield Hospitals have a special burns unit for the linguistically confused?

A friend, freshly arrived in Sheffield, went to WH Smiths early one morning before the main shop was open. He asked if he could buy an A to Z and was slightly surprised to be told 'Not while we're open'.

Confused? He was.

I like most accents apart from the heavy ones that make things hard to understand what people are saying.. The worst thing is you don't like to keep saying "wha..?" in case they take offense to it.

yeah, thats why i dont like cockney accent, cos they talk too fast :(

I met an Irish family on holiday in Ibiza, and the daughter was an absolute hottie, she was about my age, but I couldn't understand what she was saying alot of the time..

Unfortunately, she never kept in touch.. I wrote to her and never got a reply :(

Originally posted by "maxt"

A friend, freshly arrived in Sheffield, went to WH Smiths early one morning before the main shop was open. He asked if he could buy an A to Z and was slightly surprised to be told 'Not while we're open'.

Confused? He was.

I'm told there was a terrible accident in Barnsley once, when a car drove onto a level crossing when a train was coming. Apparantly the sign said "Do not enter while the lights are flashing", so the car driver waited for them to start flashing before entering...

I think that accents are wonderful but the Birmingham one does get on my nerves.

Any of you 'outsiders' recognise the different accents within South Yorkshire :?: Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield/Rotherham are all very distinct and different. When I lived down south they seemed to think that all northerners spoke the same with the obvious exceptions of Liverpool,Birmingham and Geordie. :lol:

I can't really tell the difference between Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley accents. They sound pretty much the same, all awful if too strong. A Rotherham friend of mine used to call Sheffielders "dee dars" because of how Sheffielders supposedly say 'the' as 'de' or something. I didn't really understand it, but they always chanted it at derby matches too.

The Sheffield Accent topic is here for anyone interested :
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=695

The best of all is a posh one, the queens english is so educated, pleasant to listen to, correct, grarss instead of grass, barth instead of bath, larf instead of laugh.

Originally posted by "halevan"

The best of all is a posh one, the queens english is so educated, pleasant to listen to, correct, grarss instead of grass, barth instead of bath, larf instead of laugh.

The "Queens English" is a dialect, not an accent.

"Received Pronunciation" (RP) is the accent you're talking about...

But even the Queen has changed the way she speaks over the years though. Her "posh" accent has become much more relaxed over the years. (For my English Language A-level we watched clips from many of the Queen's Christmas speeches from over the years, comparing how she pronounced certain words.)

Whatever Tony do not wish to split hairs, I still like the" posh"one though.

LikeScottish (soft) and Geordie
HateScouse, Brummie

good
Scouse (not enfield's scousers but further north, into Lancashire)
Yorkshire
Lowland Scots
RP

bad
Northern Irish
Estuarine
Black Country

Originally posted by "Tony Ruscoe"

The best of all is a posh one, the queens english is so educated, pleasant to listen to, correct, grarss instead of grass, barth instead of bath, larf instead of laugh.

The "Queens English" is a dialect, not an accent.

"Received Pronunciation" (RP) is the accent you're talking about...

But even the Queen has changed the way she speaks over the years though. Her "posh" accent has become much more relaxed over the years. (For my English Language A-level we watched clips from many of the Queen's Christmas speeches from over the years, comparing how she pronounced certain words.)

They still talk about 'trizers' and 'highziz' which is such an affectation. The Queen speaks some sort of bizarre hybrid of RP and Prussian/Greek. No one speaks like the Queen outside of court.

For my mind the finest RP accents are Brian Perkins and Charlotte Green

I cannot abide the Scouse accent. Ewwww!

I love the Geordie accent though and a well articulated Scots accent.

I also love the singing sound of the Welsh accent.

Hate - Brummie, Glaswegian, Irish

Aberdeen accent is a bit more understandable.

Mikey, how do you tell the difference between different accents within Scotland? They all sound the same to me. Then again, I have been known to get Scottish and Irish accents mixed up before!

Believe me there is a difference, I work with a few of them.

Aberdeen accent sounds a bit posher.

I went to Darwen near Blackburn yesterday and asked directions and he said your not from round here are you in his funny Lancashire accent, your from Yorkshire i can tell cause you talk funny.
What a cheek,
Though Scouse is the worse accent.

Originally posted by kittykat
I hate the birmingham accent cos its so drawn out and sounds a bit thick.

OUCH!! I come from that neck of the woods!!:cry:

I like all accents, trouble is I frequently cannot understand some of them, especially if they speak very fast.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Scottish is sexy. Don't care what region. Makes me go all soft and gooey inside:blush:

Originally posted by cosywolf
Scottish is sexy. Don't care what region. Makes me go all soft and gooey inside:blush:

How you doin'?

Had to laugh at someone saying the Aberdeen accent is a bit posher... There's a real difference between east and west coasts in Scotland, and between highland and lowland. There's also differences between posh Glasgow and scum-of-the-earth sovvy-wearing ned Glasweigian. You've got different "strengths" of accents in all places - mine, for example, is a very soft Ayrshire, largely because my parents are from Glasgow and I've lived in England for a number of years. Basically, you can tell a helluva lot about a Scottish person from their accent.

But, despite the fact that my mates slag me off for losing my accent, I've never met anyone who couldn't clearly identify me as coming from Scotland. And yes, the ladies (especially the posh southern ones) love it. Magic darts.

Originally posted by cosywolf
Scottish is sexy. Don't care what region. Makes me go all soft and gooey inside:blush:

I agree .......love the Scottish accent to bits no matter where they come from in that lovely country

i had a south african accent until i was 6 - yuk! that has to be the worst accent ever. luckily its pretty neutral now with a bittle of lovely sheff in it.

Originally posted by tinajones
i had a south african accent until i was 6 - yuk! that has to be the worst accent ever. luckily its pretty neutral now with a bittle of lovely sheff in it.

nowt wrong with a S. African accent....I went out with a S African and he had a delicious accent

maybe i associate it with all the negative things of that country's history

Originally posted by tinajones
maybe i associate it with all the negative things of that country's history

perhaps but you can't tar every poor sod with the same brush

of course not but when you have grown up around such harsh divides between the races and had a family who has educated you about apartheid its hard not too associate it with bad stuff.

my mum had a problem with the fact that my best mate was black. I come from a pretty conservative background but am fairly liberal...it took going to University to be "normal"

Originally posted by XADRIAN
my mum had a problem with the fact that my best mate was black. I come from a pretty conservative background but am fairly liberal...it took going to University to be "normal"

Same for so many people...

I was always taken aback by some of the narrow-minded attitudes that appeared during freshers week, and had mysteriously disappeared by the weekend in a fug of skunk smoke and a barrel of beer.

good ..town norfolk, wesd cundry, female french

bad .. cockney, northern.(the lot!) scottish (but thats foreign)

Originally posted by maxt
I'm pretty ambivalent about regional accents but what I can't abide are the professional accents. Those like Cilla Black who, despite not having lived in L'pool for many decades, still maintain a scouse accent. Do you think she takes un-elocution lessons to keep it up?

Regional accents are not easy to lose, unless you really work at it
After 40 years in Australia. I still have my Yorkshire accent, enough so that people can say to me "You're from Yorkshire, aren't you?" And I reply "Thank God!" Think a little deeper, and you may find that the regional accent adds a little 'something'. Do not like the Red Rose though, to my ear, it is common. Sorry to anyone from over the hills.

Cornish accent and dialect is pretty peculiar. I know in parts of the North people call you 'my duck' in shops. In Cornwall that call you ''my cock' or 'my handsome'. I was a bit wierded out at first, but a Cornish mate told me thats just what everyone says.

Love a borders region accent, tho

what the hells wrong with a scouse accent? i can understand you disliking the full on scally scouse accent that the rough areas of liverpool have and the likes of sissy from brookside but the normal mild scouse accent is great!! far greater than any other accent and only rivalled by a mild southern accent or geordie accent! Proper scouse is a mixture of Irish, English and Welsh accents and i think its great. im told far too often to recount by girls that they love my accent and its sexy. look past the sterotypes and jokes and scallys please and have a heart! ripping us apart on here :(

I have always found the soft scouse accent as it drifts into lancashire very calm and mellifluous. I had an english tutor called Pam Russell who spoke with a beautiful 'scouse' accent, and she came from somewhere in north liverpool, away from the coast.

I was once told by a hitcher from Ormskirk that there came a point in a teenagers life there, in which he or she had to choose between going Lancashire or Scouse, and it was a difficult decision to make.

He went Scouse, and said that it was much better for pulling potency than Lancashire. He could do both accents quite naturally.

Where have all the hitchers gone. I used to hitch loads until quite recently, but they seem to be extinct.

I'm with you there Red 2.

Though I'm from Sheffield and have a mild Yorkshire accent, as does my wife, both my 2 boys have been born in Liverpool and go to nursery in the city, and I'm really hoping they develop soft scouse accents cos it sounds brilliant to my ears. The eldest is nearly 4 and certainly has Liverpool phrasing - his speech is very good for his age and you can definitely hear it in there. The youngest is only 1 so is just babbling... though I'm sure some of you lot reckon that's all scousers do anyway. :D

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
I have always found the soft scouse accent as it drifts into lancashire very calm and mellifluous. I had an english tutor called Pam Russell who spoke with a beautiful 'scouse' accent, and she came from somewhere in north liverpool, away from the coast.

Phan, was Pam at Edge Hill College? The name sounds familiar...Did you remember Brenda Symons / Simons, the receptionist at the English Dept? She had a quality soft scouse accent - lovely to listen to... phone support isn't all that bad eh?

And there was Irene Bell, a lady who had some boring role somewhere down in admissions ( I think). She had a similar accent, but more youthful, and she had the looks to go with it.

Oh how the ladies flirted with me on the phone...sadly I was too professional in my conduct to flirt back - well, sometimes!

I must go back there sometime and see how they're getting on...

Lotsa ppl liek scottish it annoys me for example there's a bloke at work who's like: Ay noo yar neem - and really loud and in your face.
And the 'posh' London accent is really ANNOYING 2 man it's EMBARASSING! Eys, I farncy a spot of tea! God who do they think they are they sound like stuck up prats!

I like the Sillhillian dialect that the kids speak it's not as annoying and as thick-sounding as Brummie.
Or, as I should say it's 'safe'

I don't hate any accent I would not say that but Scouser and Geordie accents are a bit confusing and Welsh is funny!

Originally posted by robh
No there isn't a "standard english" there are some people arrogant enough to believe that their version of English is the correct one and everyone else is wrong.
.

Of course there is a form of ‘standard’ English, both spoken and written – what do you think the phonetic signs in a good dictionary are for.

Language is essentially for communication, and the point of standardization is to have as wide a field to communicate in as possible. And so as not to be confused by local pronunciations (dialect and slang), we have a set of ‘standard’ pronunciations.

This ‘clinging’ to your local dialect is just an inverse form of snobbery – especially in this modern world of easy travel.

Ps. my favourite ‘voices’ for beautiful sounding English are:

Richard Burton (a Welshman), James Mason (a Yorkshireman – Huddersfield) and Lawrence Harvey (a foreigner from Latvia) – sadly, all deceased.

I must say that I love the Cornish accent - as long as it's not too 'broad' - though I can understand pretty much anything, as I grew up on the coast of Cornwall and used to work near the quays - some of the fishermen's accents were pretty impenetrable.

Somehow I ended up with very little accent at all though, so much so that people often find it hard to place where in the UK I come from - I tend to pick up just a little of the local accent - having lived in Yorkshire for 4 years I lean more towards sounding like a Yorkshireman than anything else.

Originally posted by Abby
Phan, was Pam at Edge Hill College?
Pam was seconded from the History Department (her speciality was placename evidence in the region, and she knew quite abit about medaeival history and old english/old norse). She's a brilliantly good linguistics teacher, and because of her I can still tell by voiced bilablial plosives from my silent labiodental fricatives.

She also explained what Carl Warker was saying, and that we all speak idiolects, combinations of accent and dialect that we have amassed from our experience. Accents and dialects are often employed to reinforce group identity, just like jargon sometimes is.

Hi

I love most accents, except for Cockney and posh accents!

So I really like:
Lancashire
Yorkshire
Geordie
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Cardiff
North Wales
Birmingham
Scouse
Northern Ireland
Southern Ireland

And probably others I've missed out!!

The only problem is that sometimes I can't understand people with Belfast or Glasgow accents if they speak fast.

But other than that, I love just listening to different accents :)

i luv hearing a woman with a geordie/north east accent!

anybody got a soft spot or hatred for a particular accent??
the sheffield accent is alreeeet too mind :thumbsup:

I love the scottish accent....Glasgow area.

Moon Maiden

Can't stand Brummie accents, makes people sound thick as pig sh*t

Originally posted by Moon Maiden
I love the scottish accent....Glasgow area.

Moon Maiden

i prefer the Edinburgh accent - a bit more subtle IMO

Originally posted by fnkysknky
Can't stand Brummie accents, makes people sound thick as pig sh*t

I hate the Bristol accent

you been to pin up club fnkysknky and did you make it to Hed Kandi on saturday?? have started a new thread in 'going out in sheffield' would like to hear your opinion fella

Merged threads :thumbsup:

I like geordie accents on lasses too Bedhead, such as Lauren Lavern (sp.)

good stuff but who's Lauren Lavern?!

Shes a bassist/guitarist, but also co-presents "In the Shed with Johnny Vaughn" on BBC3 :thumbsup:

Originally posted by t020
I DESPISE the following accents:

-Liverpool/Scouser
-Birmingham/Brummie
-Newcastle/Geordie
-Scottish

I DISLIKE the following accents:

-Lancashire
-Yorkshire
-Welsh
-Cockney
-West Country
-East Anglian

Basically, I don't like any accents if they're noticeably strong. I much prefer people who pronounce their vowels correctly and don't use strong dialects with regional words, and don't totally misuse certain words, e.g. 'while' as opposed to 'until'.

So basically you like people who talk posh? Would that be residents of Eccleshall? :lol:

I was born & brought up in Oldham (South Oldham - a linguist friend of mine could tell the difference!), so my accent could verge into Manchester (where there is no T in the alphabet!)

I have been in Sheffield longer than I was in Oldham. People here can still spot a hint of Lancashire in me - people there say I speak Sheffieldish!

Mind you, t020 wouldn't like my accent whichever side I fall!

I like the Lancashire accent, but find it difficult to understand the harsher versions of Geordie, Scouse, Brum and the like

HATE....Queen's English as drivelled in Ecclesall and Buckingham Palace.

LOVE....Gud awd Yorksheer, as sed 'ere in Sheffuld bi 't folk as live 'ere 'n' luv it.

I have deliberately kept away from this thread as counties don't have accents. or should I say : accents are not variable according to county bounderies.

But if we are talking in general, I like the Geordie accent best.

I also rate an educated Essex accent on a nice, refined lady. Essex girls can be really nice.

The worst accents have to be the West-Counrtry accent, the 'Scouse' ( not Liverpool) accent and that peculiar dialect they appear to communicate in in Norfolk.

Ooo arrrr SM, Oi be with you thuur moi old luv. :thumbsup:

I go weak at knees around Geordie accents, strong or soft, absolutely love em :thumbsup: same with Welsh accents too, those two accents really affect me :blush: also quite fond of Bolton accent, my mate has got a really strong Bolton accent and Ive started to pick bits up from him. My own accent is all over the place :? I go between sounding "posh" (have to do the whole RP thing because of my job, but the Bolton Wanderer doesnt :D ) and sounding unashamedly northern, at which point Mancunian mate takes the pee!

Isnt really an accent I hate, apart from the really affected posh accents that you just know theyre putting on, the people who say Barth and Parth, dont get on with the stupid American accent, bugs me when people go up at the end of every sentence, like theyre always asking a question, and they cant seem to argue without saying "like whatever!"

Originally posted by Mosherchik
I go weak at knees around Geordie accents, strong or soft, absolutely love em :thumbsup:

Weyaye pet ;)

The worst accents have to be the West-Counrtry accent, the 'Scouse' ( not Liverpool) accent and that peculiar dialect they appear to communicate in in Norfolk.

aww, I love west-country accents! Helen Chaimberlain from Soccer AM has a lovely accent, shes from Torquay

Originally posted by RPG
Weyaye pet ;)

*swoon*
you've no idea, Aufweidersine Pet (I cant spell, sure someone will correct me :wink: ) is like an aphrodisiac :D even the channel4 geordie announcer bloke Oooooooooooo.

Mmmmmmmm I just love a geordie accent along with a nice soft Irish one too.

I hate a "Bratford" accent ..... ewwwwwwww!!!

I also hate some variations in Barnsley.

I got picked on at school because we were brought up to speak correctly and everyone said we were snobs!! It's stood me in good stead since though and many people say I don't really have much of an accent.

I once even got offered "phone" work because of my voice but declined their kind offer!!

Apparantly when Im in full on RP mode and calling I have a very relaxing voice, it all goes to cock tho when something goes wrong, I go from smooth talking professional to "Ooo hang on a sec summats gone wrong, think Ive bust it again!"

Its all part of my cunning plan, put everyone to sleep with my relaxing voice then make off with all the money
Mwah ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :D :thumbsup:

I wondered where that fiver went :cry:

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
I have deliberately kept away from this thread as counties don't have accents. or should I say : accents are not variable according to county bounderies.

But if we are talking in general, I like the Geordie accent best.

I also rate an educated Essex accent on a nice, refined lady. Essex girls can be really nice.

The worst accents have to be the West-Counrtry accent, the 'Scouse' ( not Liverpool) accent and that peculiar dialect they appear to communicate in in Norfolk.

I think the accents of Zak and Marlon Dingle on Emmerdale sound wierd (Mancunian/Lancastrian I believe).

Originally posted by cosywolf
Scottish is sexy. Don't care what region. Makes me go all soft and gooey inside:blush:

Yep i am with you on this one, gently spoken scot mmmm my fave . Sean Connery, Robert Carlyle :thumbsup:

I actually find Brummie quite sexy usually.
Also a sort of slight hint of a Bristol accent (obvisously not full ornn Brissul, just a hint)

I just have strange taste, you'll get used to it